


Cake on the Outside

by Scarlet_Gryphon



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-12
Updated: 2012-08-12
Packaged: 2017-11-11 23:32:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/484126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Gryphon/pseuds/Scarlet_Gryphon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Surprising Sam Yao is kind of hard, but if you’re clever enough, you can manage it. Spoilers for Mission 9, “A Voice in the Dark”.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cake on the Outside

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for the tiny but voracious Zombies, Run! fandom. My apologies if you have no idea what said fandom is about, though you’re more than welcome to read the fic if you like. Not betaed or anything, so my apologies if there’s typos, etc. Present tense, female!Runner Five.

It’s well known that Sam Yao has a big sweet tooth. Give the man a half-melted Mars Bar and he’s happy as a clam for the rest of the day, which boosts both his mood and those of the Runners he directs and watches over. The newest addition to Abel Township’s Runner ranks gets an idea after her harrowing night run that will hopefully help satisfy Sam’s legendary sweets cravings for a couple of days, as well as possibly making the rest of Abel’s population a little bit happier too. She takes her idea to the people who control Abel’s kitchens and food supplies, hoping against hope that they can help her complete her epic quest.

One of the chefs— formerly an owner of a vegan restaurant —proves to have a solution that might work, though of course without ready access to fresh milk, it means that substitutes have to be found. Powdered milk, vanilla beans, and cake mix are easy enough to come by, and on the next supply run, Five picks up as many packets, jars, and boxes as she can carry while still having enough room in her pack for the items she’s actually been sent out for. She takes her haul back to Abel and entrusts it to the cooks, hanging around the kitchens until Ryan, the unofficial head chef, gently but firmly orders her out.

Five returns to her bunk and tries to rest, but slumber doesn’t come particularly easily this time around. After twenty minutes or so of fruitless tossing and turning, Five gets up, makes her bed, and then leaves the barracks, heading out into the quad as she puts her ear-piece back in. A small gaggle of kids run past, laughing and shouting happily. It’s heartening to see that they’re still able to play, even in the midst of an apocalypse. She finds a bench and just watches the world go by, only moving from her spot several hours later when the announcement for dinner blares out over the intercom. A grin briefly passes across Five’s face when she hears the announcement, and, knowing that Sam is scheduled to be on duty in the comms shack, picks up a specially prepared tray for him once she’s finished her own meal.

Five knocks on the door of the comms shack, holding the covered tray in one hand and utensils for Sam in the other.

“Come on in,” Sam calls out, sounding slightly preoccupied. Five carefully opens the door, propping it open with her hip until she can edge her way in fully. Sam’s entangled at the radio desk, attention focused on the monitors and headset. He barely glances up when Five sets down the tray in an open space next to his left hand; Sam’s directing Runner Eighteen at the moment, so his attention’s fully focused on her. Eventually, though, there’s enough of a break in Zom activity that Sam’s able to look up from his monitors and greet Five, who’s been waiting patiently all this time.

Sam’s face lights up when he sees who’s brought his food, and graces Five with a bright smile. “Five! It’s good to see you. How are you?”

“Good, Sam, thanks,” Five replies, returning Sam’s smile with one of her own. “The cooks whipped up a little something special tonight, and I wanted to see your reaction.”

“Oh? Well, this should be interest—” Sam begins as he lifts the lid off the tray, and then stops mid-sentence when he sees the special dish Five has told him about. “Is—- is that what I think it is?” he asks after a full minute of stunned silence.

“You mean a ice cream cake roll? Yes, it is,” Five tells him, laughter tinging her voice with amusement. “It may not taste exactly like what you remember from before the Zoms, but it’s the closest they could make with what they had. You might want to eat it before it melts, though.”

Sam continues to stare at the small ice cream roll for a little while and then blinks, a thought occurring to him. “Wait a minute. The only person who knew about this was you,” he says, looking up at Five. “I mean, I wasn’t sure if you had actually heard me that night, but still, you’re the only person who’d know.”

Five shrugs nonchalantly, her smile becoming more fond than amused. “You helped me through that night,” she says quietly. “I figure that this is the least I could do to repay you.”

Sam hesitates before picking up the gently melting ice cream roll and breaks it in half. He holds out one half to Five.

“Share it with me?”


End file.
